In 2019 the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission greenlighted Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ request to negotiate purchasing the 2,000-acre ranch. Under the proposal, the state would explore the purchase and manage the property as a wildlife management area.

The purchase would also provide more direct access to public lands that include the iconic Sleeping Giant located about 30 miles north of Helena. Currently, the only ways to access the Sleeping Giant are a long, rugged hike from Wood Siding Gulch to the west, or from the water off Holter Reservoir.

State officials at the time stated that the owners, Sleeping Giant Ranch LLC, had expressed some interest in negotiating with the state for a potential purchase.

In the months following the commission meeting, the ranch sold privately. Property records list the current owners as C5 Livestock Rodeo, MT, LLC.

The sale nullified any potential negotiations with the state, which is not pursuing the property any longer, Quentin Kujala, FWP’s game management section chief, confirmed this week.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Forest Service complied with environmental laws when it approved the Johnny Crow Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project near Townsend and the Moose Creek Vegetation Project near White Sulphur Springs.

The two-day trek over MacDonald Pass amid a mid-May winter blast and grizzly bear encounter comes nearly three months after he started his journey from the West Coast – a 7,500-mile adventure he hopes will culminate two years from now when he paddles around the Statue of Liberty in New York.